First I wasnt to start off by saying that I am so proud of my daughter.  My olders daughter, Jennifer, had alwasy had issues with weight.  As a teenager, she wore frumpy and loose clothing to hide herself.  As an adult, and after having 2 children, she nearly reached 400 lbs.  She called me one day to ask my opinion on her having lap band surgery or gastric bypass.  She was healthy otherwise, and would be a candidate for either procedure.  Jennifer always had stomach problems and I was concerned.  After several failed attempts at other diets including low fat, exercise and low calorie diets she was ready for something drastic.  I had been following the Atkins plan by the book and had lost 84 lbs myself.  I asked her to consider it first.  What else did she have to loose.  I bought her the book along with a carbohydrate counter and mailed it to her.  She read it and began following it.  This was about 3 years ago and today she now weighs 199 and at 5foot 8 1/2 inches, looks faboulous.  She would probably loose about 30 more pounds if she could afford to do surgery to remove the loose skin from her abdomen.  She also exercises every day which is something she would never do for fear of someone seeing her.  She looks fantastic and feels fantastic.  Her cholesterol is great and she is very healthy other then having thyroid problems ( a problem she had before Atkins).  She continues today to follow the Atkins lifestyle and I couldn't be more proud of her last ditch effort!